Can you advise re dog-aggressive terrier?

[Eleison]

Sorry about length of post: just trying to get all the background facts down.

I have a 6 year old neutered male parson russell terrier, whose general obedience is quite good, but who has a fairly intractable problem of aggression directed at other dogs (almost always male dogs).

He will be fine with some dogs, even ones not previously met. And he never seems to want a full-on fight. He won't travel far to approach other dogs, but if one comes quite close he would (if I let him) approach rapidly, jump up, and nip on the back of the neck. Having achieved this single nip he will very readily stop altogether and come back to me. (Obviously I don't let this happen: his recall is quite good and I quickly put him on lead when passing other dogs.)

On lead, he is more aggressive: he will lunge and snarl. I have tried distraction, with food and with toys. I also try working on general obedience, with the idea of improving his focus on me rather than on the other dog. Toys work best: usually, if we are far enough from home, he would rather focus on a toy than on the other dog -- but if we are near home, he is more determined, much more likely to ignore the toy, and much more likely to regard almost any dog as unacceptable.

It seems that his behaviour is a combination of male sexual aggression (I didn't neuter him until 11 months -- too late I now think) but also nervousness. He tends to look assertive rather than frightened, but I think that is not the whole story.

Within the home he is very obedient for every family memberand tends to be a bit over-placatory, iyswim. I have to be quite low-key about affection, for example, because if I loom over him with lots of words and lots of touching he tends to lower his body posture and roll over, then be rather painfully still. And he will readily yawn, gaze-avoid, etc, if he feels exposed in any way. Having said that, he is very very happy dog at home with his own people -- playful lively, full of fun. He enjoys obedience work, esp using his nose.

I'm after any tips you might have that would help me understand him and more importantly change his behaviour with other dogs. When he was younger I took him to classes, and he did learn to be quite good with all the dogs there: but I never managed to generalise this success to dogs out there in the world. I hate having to put him on lead all the time: I feel that it entrenches his aggression.

Many thakns in advance for any thoughts.

have you thought about going back to classes as he was comfortable with other dogs when you did that before? even if he doesnt need the obedience side maybe it will help him around other dogs?

i understand your point about it being different outside of class. one of my dogs was a little angel in class, like a different dog!

it seems you are doing everything i would with regard to being out and about and meeting other dogs.

hope one of the behavourist/trainers here can help more than i can, sorry

Thanks chickchick. I think you are right, and actually just writing out my worries here has made me think too that might be a good idea. I'm a bit worried he might have regressed a bit so that classes might be hard at first. But I guess if I talked it through first with the person running the class it might be worth trying. Now to find the best possible classes. The ones I wnet to before were kind of ok but not brilliant. He was able to pass other dogs well and quietly there -- though I wouldn't have risked actual physical contact I think. Thanks.

i found it tricky to find good dog classes. i rung each instructor beforehand and discovered that my gut instinct was correct and i should have just crossed them off my list without even attending class

one class, which came highly recommended , from other dog people the instructor actually came round and squirted all dogs who were making a noise with water . this was before class started and dogs were just excited

i told her not to squirt mine, not only do i think it doesnt work but as i had walking sticks with me and was clearly struggling to walk i didnt actually want to walk on a wet floor. she wasnt happy with me and i didnt go back

maybe ask instructor can you sit in on a class before committing? you could go without dog to check them out if you wanted.

i was shocked at some of the practices still used. we really wanted to do heel work to music but the only class within an hours distance of mine the instructor actually 'tapped' her dog on the nose and shouted at him when he didnt listen. when i told her i wasnt going back she was surprised

wherebouts in uk are you?

i got to know my vet surgery very well and would take my dog to sit there as practise for some training we were doing. it wasnt for aggression so not sure if it would help? i wanted my dog to sit quietly and not interact with other dogs/animals when teaching him settle command. i started off sitting in quiet corner of waiting room after checking what was quietest time with vet nurses. i built up to be able to sit near other dogs in main waiting room during busy tea time surgery. its not perfect as he still pays too much interest in cats but its a lot better than it was

Yes, I'll need to put in a bit of research.

He is quite good about other dogs at the vet, funnily enough. I wouldn't let him make contact with other dogs there, for fear of a snap, but he does walk past them all very calmly to a place where we sit a little at a distance. Unfortunatley he is extremely nervous of the vet, so it is too stressful an atmosphere to support training I think.

I think perhaps I am doing the right sorts of things but just not doing them well. You need to be really organised and committed to always have the right toys/treat at hand and to respond at exactly the moment that is needed, and I suppose I get a bit half-hearted and demoralised. I'll try to remenw my efforts.

Hi - the APDT lists trainers it accredits. They should all use positive training methods and certainly no water squirters!

It does sound like your dog is suffering from fear-aggression - that would explain why he's so much worse on lead. It might be worth asking your vet if they can recommend a behaviourist to help you.